EDMONTON — The rumour mill rattled Alberta Thursday morning after a newspaper column said that Brian Jean, the man who once led half of Alberta’s right wing through an election that resulted in the downfall of a four-decade dynasty, would be returning to provincial politics at the helm of the upstart Freedom Conservatives.

Calgary city councillor Joe Magliocca told the Calgary Sun that Jean is planning to take over the leadership of the small group of rogue conservatives currently led by Derek Fildebrandt, the former Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation. Fildebrandt left the UCP caucus last year after a handful of scandals and, after pleading guilty to illegally shooting a deer on private land, was forbidden from rejoining caucus. And, so, he started up his own party.

Jean appeared to dismiss the claim hours after it was published.

“I too have heard crazy rumours about something coming Friday but NONE of it involves me,” Jean wrote on Twitter.

Magliocca stood by his story on Thursday afternoon, reiterating to the Post what he had told the Calgary Sun, that Jean was trying to recruit him if he became leader of the Freedom Conservatives. “I love this guy, good man, he really cares about Alberta, he puts Alberta first,” he said.

He said he warned Jean against splitting votes on the right wing.

When asked about why Jean would have issued a seeming-denial on Twitter, Magliocca said “so why wouldn’t he say ‘Joe Magliocca’s a crazy guy, don’t listen to him’ or something?”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be the leader, maybe he’s changed his mind, I don’t know,” Magliocca told the Post.

Still, the rumour was enough to draw the attention — and condemnation — of some prominent western Canadian conservatives.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe warned of divisions within the right.

“Our province was the example of what dividing the free enterprise movement will do: electing NDP governments, over and over again,” he wrote on Twitter. (That tweet was retweeted by former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall.)

Moe was joined by former prime minister Stephen Harper, who posted a statement to Twitter, saying “Conservatives win when we are united.”

“Jason Kenney received an overwhelming mandate from Alberta’s conservatives to lead us into the next election,” Harper said. “Laureen and I will be strongly supporting Jason and we are confident that all true Alberta conservatives will help him defeat this NDP government.”

Jean left provincial politics after losing in a leadership race to Jason Kenney, who’d arrived on the scene after years with Harper’s Conservative government in Ottawa. Kenney united the fractured right, bringing together the dishevelled remnants of Jean’s Wildrose Party and the Progressive Conservative party.

Albertans will go to the voting booth sometime before the end of May, and the campaign could, possibly, kick off as soon as Monday, when Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP government will deliver a Throne Speech.

With the United Conservative Party currently leading in the polls, here’s what you need to know about Jean and how his return could risk upsetting the balance of political power in the province.

Who is Brian Jean?

Jean, 56, lives in Fort McMurray, the heart of Alberta’s oilsands. A lawyer by trade, he entered federal politics as an Alberta MP in 2004 when the Tories were the opposition, facing Paul Martin’s Liberals. He stayed on with Harper’s Conservatives until 2014.

In December 2014, there were a series of defections from the Wildrose Party, as members crossed the floor to the Progressive Conservatives, leaving the Wildrose adrift. Jean won the Wildrose leadership in March 2015. A little more than a week later, his son died, and shortly after, Progressive Conservative Premier Jim Prentice called an election for May 5, 2015.

Prentice’s party was practically wiped out, and the NDP swept to power. Jean’s party retained its official opposition status, though, winning 21 seats, and he’s credited with holding the party together through the election.

But then, Kenney returned, and the Wildrose and PCs merged into the United Conservatives.

After losing the UCP leadership to Kenney last Spring, Jean resigned, in part, to focus on rebuilding his home, which was destroyed in the Fort McMurray fires. He’s since been a nominally private citizen, though he has remained engaged in public debate through newspaper op-eds, media interviews and Facebook posts. This has long fuelled speculation that he might still return to politics.

The fear is that there could be vote-splitting on the right, leaving enough room for the NDP to claim another term governing Alberta. There’s some precedent here: Wall, the former premier of Saskatchewan, knows a thing or two about vote splitting.

The Swift Current, Sask., resident, reached at his office in Calgary, said that multiple right-wing parties on Saskatchewan’s “free enterprise” political wing led to years of NDP governments.

“I have a high regard for Brian Jean, I want to start there,” said Wall, lauding Jean’s tenure as Wildrose leader. “If this is true I just think this is the wrong way to go about what’s best for Alberta, starting another, or leading another party that will split the vote, the free-enterprise vote, in Alberta.”

However, the Freedom Conservatives currently have just 11 candidates, mostly clustered in southern Alberta. So, at this point, it’s unlikely they’ll make a massive impact on voting.

Derek Fildebrandt started the Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta.Leah Hennel/Postmedia

Why might he do it?

There has been a bit of a fractious back-and-forth between Kenney and Jean, regarding allegations of irregular voting in the leadership race.

And, of course, there’s the matter of politics: In January, Jean prompted rumours of his return with a Facebook post declaring Albertans wanted a “mad as hell” party. Then, on March 9, Jean again lambasted Kenney and the UCP: “Let’s show some political leadership instead of selling Albertans fiscal fairy tales. We owe it to our children and grandchildren,” he wrote in the pages of the Edmonton Journal.

On Thursday, Kenney responded to the rumour, while speaking to reporters.

“It’s been clear for some time that Brian has had a hard time coming to terms with the decision made by grassroots conservatives in our leadership election,” he said.

Alberta Wildrose leader Brian Jean and Alberta PC leader Jason Kenney shake hands after announcing a unity deal between the two in Edmonton on May 18, 2017.Jason Franson/CP

So, is it true?

Well, Jean’s denial sure sounded like a denial, but he left some wiggle room. The Post reached out to Jean and Fildebrandt for comment, but did not hear back. So, we’ll just have to wait and see for sure.